Holiday Events in Los Gatos

Starting Black Friday, Los Gatos will become a Bay Area winter wonderland with the opening of Vasona Park’s 14th annual Fantasy of Lights, holiday carriage rides, the 56th annual Children’s Christmas/Holiday Parade and the holiday train.

The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad holiday train is back for December.

Vasona Park’s holiday drive tradition is back with a 1.5 mile drive-through tour of lights and holiday music. All of the popular exhibits will return including the erupting volcano in Dinosaur Den, Santa Shooting Hoops, penguins and the pirate ship.

The reindeer express bus tour will also return to the park, a good option for those who would prefer to not you their own car or wait in traffic. Ride costs $8 per person with the bus picking up parties on a first-come-first-serve basis at the Los Gatos downtown post office for the hour-long tour.

Holiday carriage rides will occur Nov. 30 to Dec. 23, from 5pm to 9pm on most schedule dates. The 15-minute carriage rides begin in the Town Plaza and continue through Almond Grove district along North Santa Cruz Avenue.

On December 1, the Los Gatos Children’s Christmas/Holiday parade with the Billy Jones Wildcat holiday train and scholastic book fair. The Children’s parade will begin at 11am, rain or shine.

The Scholastic’s Book Fair will be Dec. 1-2 from 10am to 4pm. Families will be able to follow Clifford the Big Red Dog from the holiday parade to the Los Gatos Adult Recreation Center to hang out with Clifford and Geronimo and sip hot cocoa. Santa and elves will also be at the Los Gatos Adult Recreation Center on Dec. 2 from 12pm to 2pm.

The holiday train will run from Dec. 1 to Dec. 23. The historic train runs through Vasona Park from 6pm to 9pm. Last year, the train attracted more than 100,000 visitors. A ticket for the train is $5 with complimentary carousel rides included with the purchase.

Other Los Gatos Christmas and holiday events during December include a photo op with Santa for pets on Dec. 8, Cocoa with Santa at the Fantasy of Lights on Dec. 14, Breakfast with Santa on Santa Dec. 15, multiple Santa visits at the Town Plaza Park Dec. 9,16 and 23, and gingerbread house-making Dec. 17-18.

To see the full schedule of Christmas in Los Gatos visit the Los Gatos Chambers website www.losgatoschamber.com.